From the lakeshore, Orka watches Elvar’s ship depart. She receives a telepathic message from Ulfrir, who howls in her mind of a coming “wolf age” and promises they will reunite. She mentally snarls at him to stay out of her head.

Orka then whistles for her vaesen companions, Spert and Vesli, who rejoin the group and reveal that their creator, the dragon-god Lik-Rifa, has been psychically summoning all vaesen to join her. Spert and Vesli resisted the call only because of their oath to help Orka find her son, Breca. Another warrior, Revna, worries about what this mass gathering might mean, and Orka concludes that Lik-Rifa is preparing for war.

Aboard the Sea-Wolf, Varg and the Bloodsworn prepare for battle as two unknown vessels approach. Svik rouses Varg from his thoughts about Brák Troll-Slayer and his own Tainted heritage. Varg dons his mail and weapons, taking his place in the shield wall between Svik and Røkia. As the two enemy ships pull alongside the Sea-Wolf, their crews throw grappling hooks and prepare to board.

In a Galdur tower, Guðvarr watches Skalk torture Kalv, a Tainted warrior, for information about his meeting with Prince Hakon. Unable to bear the sight, Guðvarr reveals the message himself: Drekr has reported that “the job was done” and that Hakon should be ready (431).

Queen Helka arrives with Prince Hakon, who denies knowing either Kalv or Guðvarr. Guðvarr counters by revealing that Hakon bears a secret mark, which he had to show Kalv as proof of allegiance. Helka forces her son to reveal a newly inked dragon tattoo on his head. Under threat of torture, Hakon begins to confess. Kalv shouts for him to say nothing and partially breaks free of his chair before Frek, one of Helka’s Úlfhéðnar, kills him. Hakon then reveals that the dragon-god Lik-Rifa has been freed from her prison beneath the mountain Oskutreð, and that Drekr’s dragon-born used a spell and the blood of abducted Tainted children to release her.

Hakon says Lik-Rifa is now at Nastrandir, her ancient hall in the Boneback Mountains. Skalk proposes a counter-plan: Use spell fragments from a Galdrabok to resurrect Lik-Rifa’s dead sister, the eagle goddess Orna, and then control her with a magical chain to fight the dragon. To secure his own survival by remaining useful, Guðvarr volunteers to travel to Nastrandir as Hakon’s messenger to spy on Lik-Rifa’s plans.

The battle rages on the deck of the Sea-Wolf. The enemy warriors are strangely silent and preternaturally resilient, continuing to fight even after suffering mortal wounds. Varg is pulled from the shield wall and attacked by a man whose mouth contains a grotesque, sentient tongue with its own set of teeth. Terrified, Varg fully unleashes his inner wolf, entering a berserker fury. He slaughters the remaining assailants and, when the fighting is over, stands atop a pile of corpses and howls.

At Nastrandir, Lik-Rifa’s hidden fortress, Biórr and his friend Storolf train a group of Tainted children in combat. Storolf is distraught: He can no longer psychically sense his brother, Kalv, and fears he is dead. Rotta observes the training, encouraging the children to fight with vicious pragmatism.

The fortress is rapidly filling with vaesen—trolls, skraeling, frost-spiders, and night-hags—all answering Lik-Rifa’s psychic call. Lik-Rifa holds a war council, declaring her intention to conquer Vigrið and kill her brother, the wolf-god Ulfrir. After Ilska, leader of the Raven-Feeders, outlines the political powers of the realm—Jarl Orlyg, Queen Helka, and Jarl Störr—Lik-Rifa announces her plan. They will march south, destroying each jarl in turn and freeing Tainted thralls to swell her army as she goes, until she finally finds and kills Ulfrir.

Orka and her companions track Myrk along the northern edge of the Boneback Mountains. They discover the tracks of numerous vaesen traveling east toward Lik-Rifa. During the journey, Orka has a conversation with Lif, a young warrior, about his brother’s courage and her own motivations for rescuing the ravens they had encountered.

Their pursuit is interrupted by screams and smoke from a nearby farmstead under attack. Though reluctant to get involved in others’ conflicts, Orka agrees to investigate, fearing they could be ambushed in the night if they ignore the threat.

Elvar and the Battle-Grim sail down the River Hvitá toward Snakavik. They stop a merchant ship to gather news and learn that Elvar’s father, Jarl Störr, is mustering his forces for war against Queen Helka, whom he believes is forming an alliance with Jarl Orlyg.

Further downriver, they are shocked to see a band of dragon-worshippers marching openly through Störr’s territory—a flagrant act of defiance. Elvar chooses not to engage them, remaining focused on her primary mission. Soon after, the fortress of Snakavik, built into the colossal skull of the dead god Snaka, comes into view.

Orka’s group finds the farmstead besieged by skraeling. Though Orka is initially determined to avoid the fight, Lif appeals to her compassion by invoking her son, Breca. The other warriors also argue for attacking, viewing the skraeling as future enemies allied with Lik-Rifa.

Orka relents, and they launch a coordinated assault, killing the skraeling in the courtyard and inside the main longhouse. As the battle concludes, two giant ravens swoop in and help kill the last of the attackers. A survivor, Gudleif Arnesson, explains that his family has a pact with the ravens, named Kló and Grok: They provide the birds with food in exchange for protection and news. The ravens can speak, and they recognize Orka, who previously saved Grok from a frost-spider’s web. Seeing an opportunity, Orka tells them she needs a favor.

At Nastrandir, Biórr, on guard duty at the docks, discovers Kráka and Bjarn attempting to escape. Kráka explains that she is bound by a magical blood oath—a blóð svarið—to return Bjarn to his mother, Uspa. She shows Biórr the magical wounds that appear on her arm whenever she resists the compulsion. Moved by Bjarn’s desire to see his mother, Biórr allows them to leave, having Kráka knock him unconscious to create a cover story.

However, Ilska’s warriors capture the fugitives. Back in the main hall, Kráka explains the blood oath to Rotta, who confirms that death is her only escape. Brák Trolls-Bane, another warrior, grows suspicious of Biórr’s story and, to prove his loyalty, forces him to be Kráka’s executioner. Under pressure from Brák and Ilska, and a private whispered warning from Rotta—too quiet for anyone else to hear—that he must remember where his loyalties lie, Biórr kills Kráka with his spear.

The Sea-Wolf arrives at the massive port city of Ulaz, the gateway to the southern land of Iskidan. As Svik gives Varg a new warrior’s haircut, he recounts the history of Iskidan’s unification by three brothers from Vigrið who were aided by a legendary assassin called the Shadow-Walker.

The Bloodsworn rendezvous with their scouts, Sulich and Edel. They learn that Prince Jaromir, their target, is two days ahead of them, traveling to his fortress of Valdai with over 100 warriors. They also learn that he has Vol, who has been tortured and had her lips sewn shut. Enraged, Vol’s husband Glornir learns from Sulich of a shortcut on foot through the mountains that will allow them to intercept Jaromir. Glornir orders the Bloodsworn back to their oar-benches to row for Vol.

Guðvarr and his Úlfhéðnar companion, Frek, travel through a blizzard toward Nastrandir. As they near their destination, Frek refuses to proceed further, fearing detection, and leaves a terrified Guðvarr to continue alone. Soon after, Guðvarr is ensnared in a frost-spider’s web and captured.

He awakens inside the vast, fire-lit cavern of Nastrandir, bound in webbing and surrounded by vaesen. He is confronted by Drekr and by Storolf and Fain, the brother and father of the now-dead Kalv. Guðvarr delivers his cover story, claiming to be a new messenger from Prince Hakon. Just as Drekr frees him, Lik-Rifa arrives in her dragon form, carrying a whale. She transforms into a woman and questions Guðvarr’s identity. As proof of his allegiance, he shows her the dragon tattoo on his arm, and she accepts his story.

As the Wave-Jarl approaches Snakavik, Elvar returns a fine, gold-hilted sword to the demigod Skuld, whom she holds as a thrall. Grend offers Elvar encouragement, reminding her of her cunning even as a child. They dock at the harbor, which is overflowing with longships and warriors who have answered Jarl Störr’s call to war.

A harbor official informs them that all warriors fighting for the jarl are exempt from fees and directs them to the fortress, as Störr wishes to meet all new arrivals. Elvar leaves most of her crew to make camp while she, Grend, Sighvat, Uspa, and Ulfrir head toward her father’s hall.

At Nastrandir, Biórr observes as Lik-Rifa’s forces prepare to march on Svelgarth. Their departure is interrupted by the arrival of a lone, wounded rider: Myrk. She reports that her entire crew, including her father, was killed by the Bloodsworn at the northern mine. She names Varg as the warrior who slew her father.

Myrk reveals that Orka is hunting Drekr to rescue her abducted son, Breca. Myrk knows that Orka deliberately let her escape to lead her to Breca, but Myrk deceived Orka into believing that Drekr and the other dragon-born are in the Iskalt Islands. Upon hearing this, Breca cries out for his mother, and an enraged Drekr strikes him. Myrk wants to kill Breca, but Rotta intervenes, suggesting they keep the boy alive to use as “live bait” to trap Orka.

After running for half a day through the mountains of Iskidan, the Bloodsworn arrive at a ridge overlooking the valley road that leads to Prince Jaromir’s fortress, Valdai. Sulich confirms that they have beaten Jaromir’s party to the location. Glornir sends Edel to watch for Jaromir’s approach and Røkia to scout Valdai.

Røkia returns and reports that the fortress is only lightly defended. Shortly after, Edel signals that Jaromir’s column is coming. The Bloodsworn move into the valley and form a shield wall at a narrow chokepoint in the road, preparing their ambush.

Orka’s group tracks Myrk through a snow-covered landscape to a peninsula, where the trail vanishes at the base of a sheer cliff. Spert, Orka’s vaesen companion, recognizes the location as Nastrandir, Lik-Rifa’s legendary hall. He speaks the word “Opinn,” and the pre-existing doors—hidden in the cliff face—begin to open, stone serpents animating as the rock moves.

Orka and her warriors charge inside, but the vast cavern is deserted, though it is filled with signs of recent occupation by both humans and numerous vaesen. As they explore, the stone serpents on an empty throne come to life and hiss at them. Just then, Sæunn, the Hundur-thrall, announces that she has picked up Myrk’s scent again inside the hall.

Elvar and her small retinue enter the fortified plateau atop Snaka’s skull. The area has been transformed into a massive military camp, crowded with the tents of warriors who have answered her father’s summons. At the fortress gates, a guard grants them entry and leads them to Jarl Störr, who is personally meeting the leader of every arriving warband. Elvar, along with Grend, Sighvat, Uspa, and Ulfrir, is escorted into her father’s mead hall.

The Bloodsworn wait in their shield wall. Soon, Jaromir’s column of over 100 riders enters the valley. Seeing the Bloodsworn blocking his path, Jaromir contemptuously orders his Seiðr-witch, Iva, to attack them.

Among the riders, Varg spots a captive woman—Vol. She is bruised, and her lips have been violently stitched together. When Vol and Glornir lock eyes, he lets out a roar of pure rage and pain. He bellows the command for the Bloodsworn to form their shield wall, and the battle begins.